Sosyoloji
On Disobedience
CevvelaSummary
A sociological study arguing that human history began with disobedience—that is, with Eve eating the apple or Prometheus stealing fire—and that its end could come through blind obedience. It examines the vital difference between obedience to authority and obedience to one’s conscience.
Quotes from Cevvela
“Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it may well end with an act of obedience.”
“Obedience to conscience may require disobedience to the state.”
“Whoever becomes deaf to their own conscience becomes a servant of every kind of authority.”
“Obedience is not a virtue but an escape from the trouble of thinking.”
“Not following the herd is not a matter of courage but a precondition for remaining human.”
Reader Quotes
No approved reader quotes yet.
Rate as a reader
Choose a score from 1 to 10. It saves immediately; one vote per device for this book.
Reader Score: 7.6 / 10(2.565 votes)
Reader Comments
No approved reader comments yet.
Fromm’s style is provocative and instructive, yet never condescending. He characterizes conforming to the herd not as a virtue, but as a moral collapse. If everyone in a group agrees, there is no substance there—only robots. He extols the courage to say “no” to institutional and social authority in order to remain true to one’s inner voice—that is, one’s conscience. Cevvela’s distance from a system that normalizes injustice aligns perfectly with Fromm’s definition of disobedience. Obedience is merely a refuge for cowards. A team that fails to ask the right questions or challenge established ideas can produce nothing beyond mediocrity.